LeanneJO
March 3rd, 2008, 4:02 am
The story is set in a family run animal park that opened less than a year ago. It is owned and operated by the Jameson family (dad, mum and 2 grown up sons) with about 5 additional employees.
Synopsis: Kate is sent to stay in WA with her sister Lisa for the holidays by her mum who is worried about her increasing Internet addiction. As she gets more involved in the zoo life she overhears 2 zoo guests plotting to steal some of the parks animals to take them illegally overseas. When no one is willing to help seriously check out her claim she takes matters into her own hands.
Kate
Kate sat at her computer in the back room of the house as she always did every afternoon after school. Her long dark hair fell back over her shoulders, free of the ponytail she had to wear for school. She hated school, found it boring, but always managed to get high marks. But at home she was more comfortable – the Internet and her trusty computer was her constant source of news, information and communication. Right now she had 6 windows open, 2 chat windows, her Itunes and 3 websites – including forums, online games and youtube.
“Kate!” she heard her mother call, “Dinner’s ready.” She continued surfing the web and typing furiously. “Kate!!”
“Coming, mum” Kate said resignedly. She typed a quick brb to her online friends and reluctantly got up off the computer.
Her mother Diane was waiting in the kitchen. “There you are!’ she said, kissing her daughter on the cheek and smiling, “Good to see you.” She put the meals on the table and they both sat down to eat. Tonight was spaghetti bolognaise.
Kate looked around the room to the pictures on the walls. There was herself at age 6 with her older sister Lisa, a family portrait of the girls with their mother from 3 years ago, and baby pictures of both of the girls. There were no pictures of their father who had left when Kate was just 3. She barely remembered him and was glad not to.
There on the fridge was the most recent photo of Lisa and a wombat. Six months previously Lisa had left home and gone to live in Western Australia. Lisa was six years older than Kate and loved animals. After high school she had studied conservation and zoology and recently graduated. She hadn’t found a position until she found out about this new park that had opened in WA. It was a small family owned animal park but they were hiring and it was too good an opportunity for Lisa to pass up.
Kate missed her sister. It was weird being at home just with her Mum. The two sisters were quite different, Lisa with blonde hair and Kate with dark, Lisa was also a lot more confident and outgoing and loved the outdoors. Kate was quiet and withdrawn, preferring to stay inside on the computer, but they had always been very close, with Lisa becoming quite protective of her sister after their Dad had left.
Kate and Diane ate their meals.
“How was your day darling.”
“Fine” Kate said.
“What did you learn?”
“Nothing”. Her mother smiled, this answer was typical from Kate.
“Good thing the holidays are coming up then.”
Kate privately agreed with her mother. More time on the computer! She finished eating and put down her knife and fork.
“Can I go now Mum? She asked, “I’ve got stuff to do...”
Her mum nodded, but Kate couldn’t help notice the disappointment that lingered in her eyes.
Diane
Diane watched her youngest daughter walk out of the room. Tall and slim with long dark hair. Kate’s dark colouring came from her father, who had left 12 years previously. Kate was now 15 years old and her skin was very pale from all the time spent indoors. Diane worried about her daughter. When she was her age she always wanted to be out with her friends and was starting to get interested in boys but Kate showed no interest in that sort of thing. She was always on the computer, she didn’t really help around the house and it was getting harder and harder to talk to her. Sometimes she thought she’d have more luck talking to Kate via online messaging than face to face. Holidays would be starting next week and Kate would be online for more time than ever. It wasn’t healthy, she thought. So different from her sister Lisa. Hmmm... Lisa... She often thought of her oldest daughter over in WA, she sounded so happy whenever she rang, loving her new job as an animal keeper / education officer at Jameson Animal Park and she always had stories to tell about her adventures with the reptiles, chimps, kangaroos and echidnas there. With the parks small staff there was always plenty to do.
With a smile she picked up the phone.
“Lisa, It’s Mum. How are you??”
“Yeah good thanks Mum, had a busy day, one of our kangaroos had a joey a few weeks ago and it’s finally got big enough for us to be able to handle!” Lisa said brightly.
“Wow. Listen. Would it be possible to have Kate come and stay with you for a few weeks over the holidays. I need to do something to get her off the computer and maybe you might be able to help get her out of her shell, and see another side of life.”
“Actually mum that could work out great!” Lisa said enthusiastically. “Kate could help out at the park, that will keep her busy and the people here are all very nice.”
“Great! I’ll send her over next week, once school has broken up.” Diane said “Hey this year I’ll even get a holiday with both of you away from home!” she smiled.
“Looking forward to it Mum.” Lisa said, “Let me know when and where to pick her up ok?”
“So there’s plenty of room for one more at that house of yours?” Lisa shared a small place with one of the other girls who worked at the park.
“Yes Mum it will be fine.” Lisa said, “Got to go now though, love you! Bye!”
As Diane hung up the phone, she smiled. This might just be good for Kate, though she was not likely to be over the moon about it, being such a homebody. She would have to spring it on her and make it seem like she had to go away too. Maybe she could say she was going to visit her brother and sister-in-law, who had a very small home. She grinned at her plan, then proceeded to clear the table and wash the dishes alone, wishing and hoping that one day Kate would stay and help her.
Kate
Kate stood at the airport departure lounge. School had finished yesterday and her mum had picked her up. She went inside and got into her jeans and a T-shirt, happily putting her uniform into the wash and then went to the computer. Taped to the screen was a note reading, “Kate come to the lounge room, I have something to tell you.”
She had felt mildly annoyed and a little apprehensive. Her mum had then told her she had to go and visit Uncle Colin and Aunty Maria who was sick and that she, Kate had to go to WA to spend a few weeks with Lisa. Kate had been shocked, all her holiday plans had gone out the window. Her mum had even packed her suitcase. She had spent the next few hours online, messaging her friends to let them know where she would be and hoping her virtual pets would not die in her absence. All too soon she was on the way to the airport until here she stood about to say goodbye. It brought back memories of being at this same airport just a few months back, saying goodbye to Lisa.
“I hope you have a good time, Kate, give Lissie a big hug and kiss from me ok? I’ll miss you.”
“Yeah I will, me too! Love you Mum!”
“Love you too Kate!” They hugged and Diane gave Kate a kiss on the cheek.
“Don’t give Lisa too much trouble!” she winked.
“OK, better go!” Kate said. She gave her mum one last hug and then walked down the departure tunnel.
Lisa
Lisa waited impatiently at Perth Airport for her sister’s plane to arrive. She’d had to leave work early and was missing her favourite part of the day – playtime with the chimpanzees. Ben would have all the fun to himself today.
Ben. She smiled at the thought of him, his sparkling eyes, cheeky smile, smooth tanned skin and dark hair and the amazing way he is able to interact with animals. She had fallen hard for him early on in her time working at Jameson Animal Park but wasn’t sure if she would be jeopardising her position, dating the park owner’s son.
Ben was smart, caring and funny and before long they had become an item. Several weeks ago she had even moved into the Jameson family home, a piece of information she had not yet shared with her mum. Though not overly religious or strict she knew her mother was traditional enough to probably disapprove of her daughter moving in with her boyfriend interstate (even if his whole family lived there too). The Jameson’s had accepted her as part of the family and were looking forward to having one more pair of hands at the park.
The animal park staff consisted of Lisa and Ben, Ben’s parents and older brother Chris and 4 other staff members – Sara, Michael, Sam and Rachel (who was part-time). Nine staff members and over 35 animals including koalas, kangaroos, echidnas, wombats, emus and reptiles meant a lot of work! The park was largely Australian but also was lucky enough to be home to 3 gorgeous chimpanzees and 2 spider monkeys. Kate would love them she was sure!
Passengers started streaming out of the arrivals gate. There was Kate, a little taller and paler now than she had been when Lisa had last seen her, looking nervously around. Their eyes met and both girls broke into smiles. Kate was in jeans and a T-shirt with an MSN smiley emoticon on the front, Lisa was in her khakis work uniform. The girls hugged.
“How was the flight?” Lisa asked Kate.
“Yeah ok got to use the in-flight Internet service.”
Lisa laughed. “Come on, lets get your bags and get back to the park!”
An hour later they were driving into the zoo grounds. The Jamesons house was on the park property, a relatively large house. They had a 10ha property and had built the house and animal park around it.
“Wow Lisa you live here?” Kate asked, surprised. “I thought Mum said you had a small place with one of the girls from the park.”
“I did.” Lisa smiled, “But things have changed.” Ben appeared at the side of the car, nursing the young baby kangaroo in a blanket.
“Hey beautiful.” He said kissing Lisa on the lips. “And who is this? I hope it could be Jameson Animal Park’s tenth employee!” he said winking at Kate.
“I’d like you to meet my little sister Kate. And Kate I’d like to introduce you to my boyfriend Ben.”
“Nice to finally meet you!” Ben said to Kate, “I’ve heard a lot about you from Lisa. And now I’d like to introduce you to Kiara here. “ he said lifting up the baby kangaroo.
“Hi...” Said Kate awkwardly.
“Well I’m just going to help Kate unpack all her stuff then we’ll come out to the Kangaroo Korner – meet you there ok?” Lisa said.
“Sure babe, see you in a bit!” smiled Ben.
Kate
Kate stood inside the house. There were pictures of the family around and lots of photos, paintings and small statues and figurines of different animals.
“Here’s where you’re gonna sleep sis” said Lisa showing Kate inside a room painted pale green, with two single beds inside.
“Do you sleep here too?” Kate asked.
“Most of the time.” Winked Lisa mischeviously. She sat down on her bed, with some of the toy animals on it that she had always had on her bed in her room at home. On her bedside table were photos of their mum and of Kate, some of Lisa and Ben together and one of Lisa holding a chimpanzee.
“So how long have you and Ben been together?” Kate asked.
“Three months next week.” Lisa smiled. “His mum and dad are really nice and Lynne cooks as well as Mum does! Anyway unpack your stuff and we’ll go out to the park.”
“What exactly do you expect me to do around here?” Kate asked nervously, “and is there a computer around?”
“I think that exactly what Mum was hoping you wouldn’t be doing so much of. “Lisa grinned, “and it would be great if you could help feed, groom and play with the animals and help keep the enclosures clean. It’ll be great.”
Kate didn’t feel so sure.
Ten minutes later she was all unpacked and in more suitable clothes for interacting with the animals. They went through the front entrance with a handpainted sign reading ‘Jameson Animal Park.... living, loving and caring for animals here since 2007.” There was a small ticket office / souvenir shop inside. A lady was sitting there, ready to greet park guests. She was dressed in the same uniform as Lisa with honey coloured hair and kind eyes.
“Hi Lisa. This must be Kate!” the lady came over and gave Kate a hug. It made her feel awkward but she always felt weird having strangers hug her.
“Kate this is Mrs Jameson, she’s like my second Mum!”
“Hi, Mrs Jameson, thank you for letting me come and stay.”
“It’s our pleasure... and please, call me Lynne sweety! We’re glad of any extra help here. Go on through and have a look!”
The park grounds were well maintained, neat and tidy with lots of trees and plants. First they went to Kangaroo Korner. The park had 5 kangaroos, including Kiara, the brand new joey. There were three red male kangaroos and a grey female kangaroo. Matilda the kangaroo had little Kiara in her pouch. Ben was giving a talk on kangaroos to a small group of zoo guests.
“Joeys like Kiara here will stay in their mothers pouch most of the time for the first seven to ten months of their lives. They are born so tiny, not much bigger than a jellybean but they grow pretty fast.” Ben was saying. “Kiara is now 4 and a half weeks old. Kangaroos like to eat grass and leaves and don’t need to drink much at all to survive. Their strong tails can act as a third leg when they are fighting or injured. We’ve had this one here,” he said pointing at a red kangaroo, “since he was a joey. We found his mother on the side of the road, having been hit by a car. She was dead, but we checked inside her pouch and found him. We have hand-raised him and here he is today.”
Kate had been so engrossed in Ben’s talk that she was surprised to find something warm nudging her hand. She looked down and saw one of the kangaroos.
“Go on give him a cuddle!” Lisa said.
Kate patted the kangaroo’s soft fur gently.
Kate had a whirlwind tour of the park, meeting the four resident koalas and echidnas, the five wombats, three emus, three chimpanzees (so cheeky and cute!) two spider monkeys and the snakes, lizards and bearded dragons in the reptile house. She met Chris and Sam preparing food for the animals to eat tomorrow and Michael cleaning wombat poo from the enclosure.
“Today’s been quiet” Lisa told her, “but it will pick up over the next few days hopefully as its holidays here now too. Mr Jameson isn’t even on site today, he was called out by the local ranger to help get a snake out of someone’s garden. We might even end up with it here.” Mr Jameson was at dinner however and recounted his day. “It was an easy capture and relocation. It was a black-headed python, totally harmless but the lady whose garden it was in was hysterical!!” he said, as the family sat down together with Lisa and Kate. Dinner was creamy mushroom risotto.
That night their Mum called and Lisa and Kate told her about what they have done that day in the park.
“How’s Aunty Maria?” Kate asked at the end of the call. Lisa looked confused.
“Yeah feeling better darling,” Mum said after a brief pause. After hanging up, Lisa asked, “What’s up with Aunty Maria, I haven’t heard anything about her, mum hasn’t mentioned anything?”
“Weird.” Kate said, “She’s sick and Mum’s over there with her and Uncle Colin, that’s why I’m here!”
“Oh ok!” Lisa said knowingly, taking a mouthful of the tasty risotto.
Over the next few days Kate got more and more acquainted with the park and it’s animals. On her third day she even worked up enough courage to let Ben drape a snake around her neck. She especially loved the tiny spider monkeys with such long arms and legs, and also the wombats even though she had been surprised to discover their fur was not soft at all but actually quite coarse, to protect them while digging.
That night after dinner she was presented with her very own khaki animal park staff uniform to wear like the others.
“Thank you!!” Kate said proudly. “Now would it be okay if I used the Internet for a bit?”
Lisa and Ben exchanged looks – Kate had been sent there to get her away from the computer but it had been three days for her without going online and the two of them could use some time alone together as well so they agreed.
Mr Jameson said, “Lisa tells me you’re quite the computer whiz, Kate. We’re currently looking into putting a web page up about the park – maybe that’s something you could help us with too?”
“Yeah sure thing.” Kate said. She got onto the computer, eager to check her e-mails and forums. She was surprised to see that she hadn’t actually missed much, she just had a few junk messages and forwards (which she usually deleted anyway), and the new posts on the forums were not anything interesting. Well look at that, she thought to herself, life goes on, look at all I’ve done in the last three days and I actually haven’t missed anything online. She went back to her room and got ready for bed. Lisa wasn’t there (Kate had a fairly good idea as to where she might be), and didn’t return before Kate fell asleep that night.
The park did get busier over the next few days, with 56 guests in one day on the first Sunday of the holidays. Everyone was very busy caring for the animals as well as educating and helping out the park guests when needed. Kate’s pale skin had initially burned and gone all red from her long days in the sun even though she had lathered herself in sunscreen, but now was beginning to show the first signs of a tan. The first time she was asked to help pick up animal poo she was pretty grossed out, but she didn’t have to actually touch it, she got to use a pooper scooper and it was just another part of the job. It was better to get rid of it than to accidently step in it or have a park guest step in it and complain.
Kate was learning heaps about the animals from Lisa, Ben, Chris, Michael, Sam, Sara, Rachel, Lynne and Peter and she was starting to be able to pass on information on the different animals to the guests.
“Baby echidnas are called puggles and they start life being the size of a jellybean. They stay in their mother’s pouch, much like a kangaroo joey does. Now they look very prickly, but there’s a special way to hold them so you don’t get pricked.” She found herself demonstrating one day.
The park guests were mainly families with young children, tourists eager to see some Australian animals and nature photographers. Her days were filled with playing with animals, helping prepare food for animals and putting it out, answering questions and even sometimes working at the ticket office and shop. By nightfall she was often too tired to even bother to go online and when she did she found it didn’t capture her interest quite as much as it had before.
In her second week the park had to tend to a poor koala who had been hit by a car while crossing the road. They named her Kim and she even had to sleep in the house as she needed around the clock care, with medication every hour and the dressing on her injuries changed regularly. Peter and Lynne told them that though Kim looked bad now, within a month or so she’d be fine and another asset to the park.
Kate and Lisa were closer than ever and she enjoyed Ben’s company too, he made the girls laugh and had a great sense of humour. On their rare days off they went to the beach nearby or watched DVDs with Kim in the room so they could look after her if needed. But for the most part their time was spent at the animal park. Each member of the team loved the place and worked hard to make it the best it could be.
On the Thursday, Mr Jameson and Michael were off-site, sourcing some new food sources for the spider monkeys and chimpanzees. Lynne was back at the house with Kim. Rachel was manning the ticket office and gift shop. Sam was with the wombats, Sara with the echidnas, Ben with the kangaroos and Lisa was taking care of the spider monkeys and chimpanzees.
Kate was spreading her time between the reptile house and koala kingdom. The day had been a bit quieter than normal, possibly because of a fair opening for one week only in the neighbouring suburbs. Kate picked the bearded dragon off a little boys head. The boy’s mother had just taken a photo of them together and both were very happy!
“Thanks so much,” the mother said to Kate, “and can I say, this is one of the best small animal parks I’ve seen. It’s great to be able to be so hands-on with the animals here.”
“Thank you!” Kate said with a smile, “I’ll be sure to pass that one!” The mother and son walked out of the reptile house across to Wombat World. As it was quiet Kate slipped behind the wall where food supplies were kept out of the view of the public, to get some fresh cockroaches for the lizards and bearded dragons to have. She had to look for the tweezers to pick them up with and was crouching down checking the lower shelves when she heard some more people coming in. She was about to pop her head out and say hi when she heard them speak.
“Barely any staff, minimal security, easy access to all the animals. This is going to be a piece of cake.” Kate froze immediately.
“Yeah and we’ll get heaps for some of these Australian animals on the black market back home.”
“This one here will look great as a belt, or maybe a handbag, what do you think?” The two men laughed derisively. Kate was frozen to the spot – how could they talk about doing that to these beautiful animals?
“So what do you think? Come back tomorrow night? Park closes at 4.30 and my sources say staff leave around 6 and go back to the house on the property. There’s just the one security camera but that can be put out of action without too much trouble.”
“Shh someones coming!” one of the men said to the other.
“Look mummy at that snake... feel how smooth it is.” She heard a little girl say. Kate heard the sound of cameras clicking. Then she heard footsteps leaving the reptile house and breathed a sigh or relief. She had to go and tell one of the others about this right away!! She was about to step out from the wall when she heard the voice again.
“So yeah, tomorrows the night, we’ll come back with the van and bags for the animals and take as much as we can get. Boat will leave the next day.”
“What if we’re caught?”
“There’s just the one family that will be here and I can make sure the main threats are out of the way.”
“Ok good, that would make me feel a lot better.”
“These people are obviously very trusting – plus they don’t suspect a thing, it’ll be fine, don’t worry so much.”
“Now let’s go tell the boss. I reckon he’ll be right pleased.”
Once again Kate heard footsteps leaving the reptile house but she stayed rooted to the spot for several minutes. When she dared to take a look around the wall she was relieved to find the room empty apart from its regular inhabitants. Her heart was beating so fast, she had to tell someone!! She went through the side exit of the reptile house, hoping not to see the two men who she now realised she didn’t even have a clue as to what they looked like. She hadn’t dared to have a look at them, afraid of what might happen if they discovered they were being overheard. She went through the echidnas and had a look down the main park walkway. She could see the mother and son who had thanked her earlier, what must have been the girl and mother who had been in to see the snakes while the two men were in there, a group of four Japanese young people, two men with cameras around their necks, at that moment one was taking a photo of one of the chimpanzees as Kate watched. Could it be them?? Then she saw some more men. She had to find Lisa. She saw her sitting in a tree with a chimpanzee.
“Hey sis, whatcha doing here? I thought you had the reptiles and koalas under control. You need some help??” Lisa called down to her.
Kate shook her head but words wouldn’t come.
“Whats the matter?” Lisa swung down out of the tree, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”
Kate didn’t know where to begin. She made sure no park guests were anywhere near them before saying a thing.
“Lisa I was in the reptile house getting food behind the wall when these two men came in. They... they’re planning to come here tomorrow night and take some of the animals and take them overseas for trade. They were going on about lack of staff and security and they think it will be easy. They’ve been watching all of us and they know where the house is and when we go there etc.”
Lisa looked very serious, “Are you absolutely sure Kate?”
Kate nodded, her eyes wide.
“Can you show me which people it was?”
“No. I didn’t see what they looked like, I only heard their voices.”
“Hmm ok... we can’t exactly go creeping around the park listening to the voices of all the men who are here today.”
“We have to do something!!!” Kate said urgently.
“We will, we’ll tell Ben and the others and think about what to do. But for now I think we should just act normally, as if nothing has happened. They could still be here and we don’t want them to notice anything different, especially if, as you say, they have been watching us for awhile.”
Kate still felt panicky but she could see the logic in what Lisa was saying.
“Okay I’ll go back to the koalas. Should I mention anything to anyone else?”
“No not yet we should let the Jameson’s know first. Now go!”
Kate went back and entered the Koala habitat; she didn’t fancy going back into the reptile house so soon after her experience. Her mind was racing. The rest of the day seemed to drag and it was with impatience that she waited for 4.30 and the park to close. The last guests went out the front gates and Kate went immediately over to Lisa and Ben. Sam and Sara joined them.
“Ben, we’ve got something to tell you.” Lisa said. She recounted Kate’s story, with Kate adding bits here and there as she remembered. Sam looked sceptical. Sara looked worried.
“Hmm so these scumbags were potentially here all day and we don’t have a clue what they look like?” Ben ran his fingers through his hair. “Hmm Rachel was in the ticket office today, she might be able to tell us more about who was here today.” The five of them walked to the ticket office, where Rachel was counting the money.
“Hey Rach,” said Ben, “Kate here overheard two men plotting to come here and steal a number of our animals that could be going to happen tomorrow night. Trouble is she didn’t get to see what they looked like.”
“So our lead is basically useless,” said Sam.
Ben gave him a pointed look, “So I need you to think back over who was here today and tell me as much as you can about them, any men on their own? Credit card slips etc??”
“Hmm.” Rachel was thoughtful, “I don’t really remember. I think there were about three lots of men in today, two of them were nature photographers so I’m not sure if you want to rule them out? And another lot have been here a few times before. I think they all paid cash though so no names or signatures sorry. It was mainly kids and parents today. Nothing really stood out to me as odd or anything, sorry.” She handed over the days takings to Ben to take inside to Lynne and then she had to go home. The others locked up the park and went into the house.
Lynne was sleeping on the couch with Kim on her lap. Kate coughed to wake her up and the two girls again recounted all that Kate had heard earlier that day. Lynne listened thoughtfully but didn’t seem overly concerned. “I wouldn’t worry too much we do have a security camera after all and I’d like to see someone put a fully grown emu into a bag. Or try to pick up an echidna without the right sort of training. We’ll contact the police but I don’t think they’ll be too interested, I’m afraid.”
Kate looked at her incredulously. “But they said they can get the security camera out of action!”
“I think someone probably just has an over-active imagination and wants a bit more excitement around here. Me, I’ve had enough for the day, I’m going home.” Said Sam.
“Yeah don’t get so worked up about it Kate,” said Sara, “Nothing bad has ever happened, it will be fine.” Sam and Sara left and Lynne got started on dinner, while Ben and the girls took over caring for Kim.
Kate felt angry, “Why is no one else as worried? Why doesn’t Sam believe me, even your mum’s not taking it seriously!” she burst out to Ben.
“Well I guess to them it’s not as serious, there’s no proof, you don’t have any evidence, and you’re just a 15 year old girl.” Kate’s felt indignant, “You don’t need to get angry at me though, I believe you and we’re going to do all we can to stop this from happening, ok?” Ben said looking into her eyes. Kate felt suddenly calmer.
“Alright we need a plan!”
The trio continued to plan that night after dinner. Peter and Chris had come home and they had told them, Peter had rung the police, who, as Lynne had predicted were not overly interested given the lack of evidence and its source but they said they’d send an officer over the next night if they were not too busy and could spare one. Peter was okay about it, confident that the security measures he had in place would be enough. “I’ll keep watch tomorrow night too kids. Look I’m just as concerned about our animals as you but I’m sure everything will be fine. Relax, want to play Monopoly or something tonight?”
“Nah I think we’ll just watch DVDs in the bedroom.” Lisa said, “Thanks for dinner Lynne, it was lovely.” The three of them retreated into Ben’s room, not to watch DVDs at all but to get some serious planning done. Ben drew a quick sketch of the park showing all the enclosures, the security cameras, entrances, low fencing etc.
“We don’t know where they will try to come in, but we’ve got to man the front gates though I don’t think they’d be dumb enough to come in the main doors, but you never know. We should also be stationed near the Kangaroo Korner as the fences there are relatively low, same with the wombats.”
“Why don’t we be there instead of the entry as its so close to the entry anyway?” Lisa asked.
“Good point. They couldn’t get in from the Chimpanzee Jungle or spider monkeys as theres no entry, just the big back of the cage. Emu run is a bit open as well but I don’t see them voluntarily jumping into an enclosure with birds as big as them, especially if they are not familiar with Australian wildlife.” Kate and Lisa agreed, “And the reptile house has no outside entry. So that leaves the echidnas, because the koala’s area has that big fence and all those tall trees behind it.”
“Ok so we need to be at or watching the Kangaroos, Wombats and echidnas tomorrow night.” Lisa said.
“Yes and there’s three of us so that works out well.” Ben said.
“Not so fast, I’m not sure I want to be alone at night in the park when we’re actually expecting potentially dangerous criminals to be coming in. I don’t think we should split up.” Kate said, appealing to her sister.
“OK, Kate and I will stick together and watch the kangaroos and wombats as they are right next to each other anyway and you can watch at the wombats.” Lisa said. Kate breathed a sigh of relief.
“What should we bring? Weapons of any sort? I’m not sure I could attack anyone...” Kate said nervously.
“Definitely a video camera or camera so we can get evidence, especially if the security camera is put out of action, mobile phones to contact the police if we need to, possibly a snake or two.... we know which ones are harmless but they probably don’t and we can use that to our advantage.” Ben was thinking hard. “We should probably be out there from 6 but then again if they are watching the house we want them to see us going to the house. Maybe we can sneak back out individually, that wouldn’t be as obvious.”
They spent the rest of the night talking and planning and Kate woke the next morning to find herself still in Ben’s room, the three of them still in their work clothes with hand drawn maps and notebooks scattered all around them. Kate felt nervous and worried, what if something bad happened? Or what if nothing happened at all and then she would be made to feel foolish for making them go to all this trouble for nothing. Kate and Lisa went back to their own room and got changed into a fresh set of clothes, brushed their hair and went down for a quick bowl of WeetBix for breakfast. Ben joined them before long, with Chris, Lynne and Peter.
“You guys had a late one last night” Lynne said, “I went past after 12 and you were still all in there, must have been a good movie! I hope you’re all bright and bushy tailed for another big day at the park today”. They all nodded.
“So Dad,” said Ben casually, “Are you still gonna watch the park tonight in case..., cos we’d all like to help.”
“Yeah I will, and that’s fine, but it will be another late night for you lot, you don’t have to help.” Peter said.
“We’ll see how we feel.” Lisa said stretching. They washed their bowls and cups, put hats on and went out to start the day. It was an ordinary day, they started off cleaning out the enclosures and replacing the food and water and saying ‘Good morning’ to all the animals, then the others started arriving at work, Peter, Lynne, Michael, Sam and Sara. Rachel was not rostered on that day and Chris was on his off day which meant staying home with Kim the koala. Lynne was on tickets again. Kate purposely requested not to be in the reptile house again, she was still freaked out by yesterday to want to be in there alone again today. Michael took the job after hearing about her experience yesterday. He was a kind man, in his mid 30s, he had worked at Perth Zoo previously but wanted a more personal environment and had come to Jameson’s when he had heard about it. “I’ll even stay late tonight and help you watch the park in case” he told them. Kate felt better already, it would be the 5 of them, as well as possibly a policeman, and she felt better about that than the plan for just the three of them. Kate took the wombats today, Lisa the kangaroos, Ben the monkeys and chimpanzees, Peter the emus, Sara the echidnas and Sam the koalas. The day passed just like any other, apart from the fact that they all were now taking much more notice of every person who came into the zoo, trying to remember as much details as they could about each and every man who came in, as well as running through the plans for the night ahead in their minds. Lisa saw a group of two men walking past the Kangaroo Korner and took a mental note. Light brown hair, one with a beard and one without, could be brothers, about 5”10, brown pants and a blue shirt. Later she saw an Asian man and his wife over by the koalas, black hair, red shirt, jeans. A man alone entering the zoo, in black leather jacket and black jeans, brown spiky hair. This could drive her crazy, thinking everyone was a suspect.
Kate at the wombats saw one man who looked familiar, she was sure she had seen him before, just yesterday in fact, at the park. Could he be one of the men, or was he simply the regular Rachel had mentioned that comes in often to take photos? She wasn’t working that day and so Kate couldn’t ask her. It was frustrating. The day went annoyingly slowly but nothing out of the ordinary happened and she started to slightly relax and enjoy spending time with Burrow and Maxi and the other wombats.
Just before closing, Peter came through and said to Kate, “Listen sorry Kate but I’m not going to be able to hang around here tonight, I’ve got to head off now. I just got an urgent phone call from a mate up the coast, a whale up there has beached itself and Lynne and I need to go right away to help out to try to save it. You guys will have to make your own dinner, don’t worry I’ve called the police again today and they are definitely sending an officer down this evening, it’ll be fine!” he said with a wink, “Now I better go, catch up with you all tomorrow hopefully.” He said dashing off.
“That was sudden,” Lisa said coming over to the side of the fence, “but you can understand he needs to be there to save a whale, they are such amazing animals.”
“Yeah..” said Kate but she couldn’t help but feel uneasy. What if this was just a hoax phone call from the men, designed to get him and Lynne out of the way? But then again, Peter had said it was a friend of his that had called... 4.30 came and went and they began their typical closing up routines, locking the monkey and chimpanzee cages and the top of the snake pit, restocking food to get them through the night and counting the days takings. Sara had taken over from Lynne in the gift shop/ticket office when she and Peter had to suddenly leave to attend to the whale. Sam left as soon as he could, still acting as if Kate had made the whole thing up.
“Do you need me to stay and help keep watch tonight?” Sara asked, “You do still have a policeman coming, Peter said?”
“It should be fine.” Ben said.
“Oh good.” Sara said, her face brightening, ‘I actually had plans for tonight but would cancel if you needed me, feel free to call me if you do need help or anything ok guys?” Michael said he would stay and he came back up to the house with Ben, Lisa and Kate. Chris was inside with Kim, slightly grumpy from being stuck inside all by himself all day. They let him know of the plans for the night and made themselves a quick stir-fry dinner of noodles, vegetables, honey and soy sauce.
Synopsis: Kate is sent to stay in WA with her sister Lisa for the holidays by her mum who is worried about her increasing Internet addiction. As she gets more involved in the zoo life she overhears 2 zoo guests plotting to steal some of the parks animals to take them illegally overseas. When no one is willing to help seriously check out her claim she takes matters into her own hands.
Kate
Kate sat at her computer in the back room of the house as she always did every afternoon after school. Her long dark hair fell back over her shoulders, free of the ponytail she had to wear for school. She hated school, found it boring, but always managed to get high marks. But at home she was more comfortable – the Internet and her trusty computer was her constant source of news, information and communication. Right now she had 6 windows open, 2 chat windows, her Itunes and 3 websites – including forums, online games and youtube.
“Kate!” she heard her mother call, “Dinner’s ready.” She continued surfing the web and typing furiously. “Kate!!”
“Coming, mum” Kate said resignedly. She typed a quick brb to her online friends and reluctantly got up off the computer.
Her mother Diane was waiting in the kitchen. “There you are!’ she said, kissing her daughter on the cheek and smiling, “Good to see you.” She put the meals on the table and they both sat down to eat. Tonight was spaghetti bolognaise.
Kate looked around the room to the pictures on the walls. There was herself at age 6 with her older sister Lisa, a family portrait of the girls with their mother from 3 years ago, and baby pictures of both of the girls. There were no pictures of their father who had left when Kate was just 3. She barely remembered him and was glad not to.
There on the fridge was the most recent photo of Lisa and a wombat. Six months previously Lisa had left home and gone to live in Western Australia. Lisa was six years older than Kate and loved animals. After high school she had studied conservation and zoology and recently graduated. She hadn’t found a position until she found out about this new park that had opened in WA. It was a small family owned animal park but they were hiring and it was too good an opportunity for Lisa to pass up.
Kate missed her sister. It was weird being at home just with her Mum. The two sisters were quite different, Lisa with blonde hair and Kate with dark, Lisa was also a lot more confident and outgoing and loved the outdoors. Kate was quiet and withdrawn, preferring to stay inside on the computer, but they had always been very close, with Lisa becoming quite protective of her sister after their Dad had left.
Kate and Diane ate their meals.
“How was your day darling.”
“Fine” Kate said.
“What did you learn?”
“Nothing”. Her mother smiled, this answer was typical from Kate.
“Good thing the holidays are coming up then.”
Kate privately agreed with her mother. More time on the computer! She finished eating and put down her knife and fork.
“Can I go now Mum? She asked, “I’ve got stuff to do...”
Her mum nodded, but Kate couldn’t help notice the disappointment that lingered in her eyes.
Diane
Diane watched her youngest daughter walk out of the room. Tall and slim with long dark hair. Kate’s dark colouring came from her father, who had left 12 years previously. Kate was now 15 years old and her skin was very pale from all the time spent indoors. Diane worried about her daughter. When she was her age she always wanted to be out with her friends and was starting to get interested in boys but Kate showed no interest in that sort of thing. She was always on the computer, she didn’t really help around the house and it was getting harder and harder to talk to her. Sometimes she thought she’d have more luck talking to Kate via online messaging than face to face. Holidays would be starting next week and Kate would be online for more time than ever. It wasn’t healthy, she thought. So different from her sister Lisa. Hmmm... Lisa... She often thought of her oldest daughter over in WA, she sounded so happy whenever she rang, loving her new job as an animal keeper / education officer at Jameson Animal Park and she always had stories to tell about her adventures with the reptiles, chimps, kangaroos and echidnas there. With the parks small staff there was always plenty to do.
With a smile she picked up the phone.
“Lisa, It’s Mum. How are you??”
“Yeah good thanks Mum, had a busy day, one of our kangaroos had a joey a few weeks ago and it’s finally got big enough for us to be able to handle!” Lisa said brightly.
“Wow. Listen. Would it be possible to have Kate come and stay with you for a few weeks over the holidays. I need to do something to get her off the computer and maybe you might be able to help get her out of her shell, and see another side of life.”
“Actually mum that could work out great!” Lisa said enthusiastically. “Kate could help out at the park, that will keep her busy and the people here are all very nice.”
“Great! I’ll send her over next week, once school has broken up.” Diane said “Hey this year I’ll even get a holiday with both of you away from home!” she smiled.
“Looking forward to it Mum.” Lisa said, “Let me know when and where to pick her up ok?”
“So there’s plenty of room for one more at that house of yours?” Lisa shared a small place with one of the other girls who worked at the park.
“Yes Mum it will be fine.” Lisa said, “Got to go now though, love you! Bye!”
As Diane hung up the phone, she smiled. This might just be good for Kate, though she was not likely to be over the moon about it, being such a homebody. She would have to spring it on her and make it seem like she had to go away too. Maybe she could say she was going to visit her brother and sister-in-law, who had a very small home. She grinned at her plan, then proceeded to clear the table and wash the dishes alone, wishing and hoping that one day Kate would stay and help her.
Kate
Kate stood at the airport departure lounge. School had finished yesterday and her mum had picked her up. She went inside and got into her jeans and a T-shirt, happily putting her uniform into the wash and then went to the computer. Taped to the screen was a note reading, “Kate come to the lounge room, I have something to tell you.”
She had felt mildly annoyed and a little apprehensive. Her mum had then told her she had to go and visit Uncle Colin and Aunty Maria who was sick and that she, Kate had to go to WA to spend a few weeks with Lisa. Kate had been shocked, all her holiday plans had gone out the window. Her mum had even packed her suitcase. She had spent the next few hours online, messaging her friends to let them know where she would be and hoping her virtual pets would not die in her absence. All too soon she was on the way to the airport until here she stood about to say goodbye. It brought back memories of being at this same airport just a few months back, saying goodbye to Lisa.
“I hope you have a good time, Kate, give Lissie a big hug and kiss from me ok? I’ll miss you.”
“Yeah I will, me too! Love you Mum!”
“Love you too Kate!” They hugged and Diane gave Kate a kiss on the cheek.
“Don’t give Lisa too much trouble!” she winked.
“OK, better go!” Kate said. She gave her mum one last hug and then walked down the departure tunnel.
Lisa
Lisa waited impatiently at Perth Airport for her sister’s plane to arrive. She’d had to leave work early and was missing her favourite part of the day – playtime with the chimpanzees. Ben would have all the fun to himself today.
Ben. She smiled at the thought of him, his sparkling eyes, cheeky smile, smooth tanned skin and dark hair and the amazing way he is able to interact with animals. She had fallen hard for him early on in her time working at Jameson Animal Park but wasn’t sure if she would be jeopardising her position, dating the park owner’s son.
Ben was smart, caring and funny and before long they had become an item. Several weeks ago she had even moved into the Jameson family home, a piece of information she had not yet shared with her mum. Though not overly religious or strict she knew her mother was traditional enough to probably disapprove of her daughter moving in with her boyfriend interstate (even if his whole family lived there too). The Jameson’s had accepted her as part of the family and were looking forward to having one more pair of hands at the park.
The animal park staff consisted of Lisa and Ben, Ben’s parents and older brother Chris and 4 other staff members – Sara, Michael, Sam and Rachel (who was part-time). Nine staff members and over 35 animals including koalas, kangaroos, echidnas, wombats, emus and reptiles meant a lot of work! The park was largely Australian but also was lucky enough to be home to 3 gorgeous chimpanzees and 2 spider monkeys. Kate would love them she was sure!
Passengers started streaming out of the arrivals gate. There was Kate, a little taller and paler now than she had been when Lisa had last seen her, looking nervously around. Their eyes met and both girls broke into smiles. Kate was in jeans and a T-shirt with an MSN smiley emoticon on the front, Lisa was in her khakis work uniform. The girls hugged.
“How was the flight?” Lisa asked Kate.
“Yeah ok got to use the in-flight Internet service.”
Lisa laughed. “Come on, lets get your bags and get back to the park!”
An hour later they were driving into the zoo grounds. The Jamesons house was on the park property, a relatively large house. They had a 10ha property and had built the house and animal park around it.
“Wow Lisa you live here?” Kate asked, surprised. “I thought Mum said you had a small place with one of the girls from the park.”
“I did.” Lisa smiled, “But things have changed.” Ben appeared at the side of the car, nursing the young baby kangaroo in a blanket.
“Hey beautiful.” He said kissing Lisa on the lips. “And who is this? I hope it could be Jameson Animal Park’s tenth employee!” he said winking at Kate.
“I’d like you to meet my little sister Kate. And Kate I’d like to introduce you to my boyfriend Ben.”
“Nice to finally meet you!” Ben said to Kate, “I’ve heard a lot about you from Lisa. And now I’d like to introduce you to Kiara here. “ he said lifting up the baby kangaroo.
“Hi...” Said Kate awkwardly.
“Well I’m just going to help Kate unpack all her stuff then we’ll come out to the Kangaroo Korner – meet you there ok?” Lisa said.
“Sure babe, see you in a bit!” smiled Ben.
Kate
Kate stood inside the house. There were pictures of the family around and lots of photos, paintings and small statues and figurines of different animals.
“Here’s where you’re gonna sleep sis” said Lisa showing Kate inside a room painted pale green, with two single beds inside.
“Do you sleep here too?” Kate asked.
“Most of the time.” Winked Lisa mischeviously. She sat down on her bed, with some of the toy animals on it that she had always had on her bed in her room at home. On her bedside table were photos of their mum and of Kate, some of Lisa and Ben together and one of Lisa holding a chimpanzee.
“So how long have you and Ben been together?” Kate asked.
“Three months next week.” Lisa smiled. “His mum and dad are really nice and Lynne cooks as well as Mum does! Anyway unpack your stuff and we’ll go out to the park.”
“What exactly do you expect me to do around here?” Kate asked nervously, “and is there a computer around?”
“I think that exactly what Mum was hoping you wouldn’t be doing so much of. “Lisa grinned, “and it would be great if you could help feed, groom and play with the animals and help keep the enclosures clean. It’ll be great.”
Kate didn’t feel so sure.
Ten minutes later she was all unpacked and in more suitable clothes for interacting with the animals. They went through the front entrance with a handpainted sign reading ‘Jameson Animal Park.... living, loving and caring for animals here since 2007.” There was a small ticket office / souvenir shop inside. A lady was sitting there, ready to greet park guests. She was dressed in the same uniform as Lisa with honey coloured hair and kind eyes.
“Hi Lisa. This must be Kate!” the lady came over and gave Kate a hug. It made her feel awkward but she always felt weird having strangers hug her.
“Kate this is Mrs Jameson, she’s like my second Mum!”
“Hi, Mrs Jameson, thank you for letting me come and stay.”
“It’s our pleasure... and please, call me Lynne sweety! We’re glad of any extra help here. Go on through and have a look!”
The park grounds were well maintained, neat and tidy with lots of trees and plants. First they went to Kangaroo Korner. The park had 5 kangaroos, including Kiara, the brand new joey. There were three red male kangaroos and a grey female kangaroo. Matilda the kangaroo had little Kiara in her pouch. Ben was giving a talk on kangaroos to a small group of zoo guests.
“Joeys like Kiara here will stay in their mothers pouch most of the time for the first seven to ten months of their lives. They are born so tiny, not much bigger than a jellybean but they grow pretty fast.” Ben was saying. “Kiara is now 4 and a half weeks old. Kangaroos like to eat grass and leaves and don’t need to drink much at all to survive. Their strong tails can act as a third leg when they are fighting or injured. We’ve had this one here,” he said pointing at a red kangaroo, “since he was a joey. We found his mother on the side of the road, having been hit by a car. She was dead, but we checked inside her pouch and found him. We have hand-raised him and here he is today.”
Kate had been so engrossed in Ben’s talk that she was surprised to find something warm nudging her hand. She looked down and saw one of the kangaroos.
“Go on give him a cuddle!” Lisa said.
Kate patted the kangaroo’s soft fur gently.
Kate had a whirlwind tour of the park, meeting the four resident koalas and echidnas, the five wombats, three emus, three chimpanzees (so cheeky and cute!) two spider monkeys and the snakes, lizards and bearded dragons in the reptile house. She met Chris and Sam preparing food for the animals to eat tomorrow and Michael cleaning wombat poo from the enclosure.
“Today’s been quiet” Lisa told her, “but it will pick up over the next few days hopefully as its holidays here now too. Mr Jameson isn’t even on site today, he was called out by the local ranger to help get a snake out of someone’s garden. We might even end up with it here.” Mr Jameson was at dinner however and recounted his day. “It was an easy capture and relocation. It was a black-headed python, totally harmless but the lady whose garden it was in was hysterical!!” he said, as the family sat down together with Lisa and Kate. Dinner was creamy mushroom risotto.
That night their Mum called and Lisa and Kate told her about what they have done that day in the park.
“How’s Aunty Maria?” Kate asked at the end of the call. Lisa looked confused.
“Yeah feeling better darling,” Mum said after a brief pause. After hanging up, Lisa asked, “What’s up with Aunty Maria, I haven’t heard anything about her, mum hasn’t mentioned anything?”
“Weird.” Kate said, “She’s sick and Mum’s over there with her and Uncle Colin, that’s why I’m here!”
“Oh ok!” Lisa said knowingly, taking a mouthful of the tasty risotto.
Over the next few days Kate got more and more acquainted with the park and it’s animals. On her third day she even worked up enough courage to let Ben drape a snake around her neck. She especially loved the tiny spider monkeys with such long arms and legs, and also the wombats even though she had been surprised to discover their fur was not soft at all but actually quite coarse, to protect them while digging.
That night after dinner she was presented with her very own khaki animal park staff uniform to wear like the others.
“Thank you!!” Kate said proudly. “Now would it be okay if I used the Internet for a bit?”
Lisa and Ben exchanged looks – Kate had been sent there to get her away from the computer but it had been three days for her without going online and the two of them could use some time alone together as well so they agreed.
Mr Jameson said, “Lisa tells me you’re quite the computer whiz, Kate. We’re currently looking into putting a web page up about the park – maybe that’s something you could help us with too?”
“Yeah sure thing.” Kate said. She got onto the computer, eager to check her e-mails and forums. She was surprised to see that she hadn’t actually missed much, she just had a few junk messages and forwards (which she usually deleted anyway), and the new posts on the forums were not anything interesting. Well look at that, she thought to herself, life goes on, look at all I’ve done in the last three days and I actually haven’t missed anything online. She went back to her room and got ready for bed. Lisa wasn’t there (Kate had a fairly good idea as to where she might be), and didn’t return before Kate fell asleep that night.
The park did get busier over the next few days, with 56 guests in one day on the first Sunday of the holidays. Everyone was very busy caring for the animals as well as educating and helping out the park guests when needed. Kate’s pale skin had initially burned and gone all red from her long days in the sun even though she had lathered herself in sunscreen, but now was beginning to show the first signs of a tan. The first time she was asked to help pick up animal poo she was pretty grossed out, but she didn’t have to actually touch it, she got to use a pooper scooper and it was just another part of the job. It was better to get rid of it than to accidently step in it or have a park guest step in it and complain.
Kate was learning heaps about the animals from Lisa, Ben, Chris, Michael, Sam, Sara, Rachel, Lynne and Peter and she was starting to be able to pass on information on the different animals to the guests.
“Baby echidnas are called puggles and they start life being the size of a jellybean. They stay in their mother’s pouch, much like a kangaroo joey does. Now they look very prickly, but there’s a special way to hold them so you don’t get pricked.” She found herself demonstrating one day.
The park guests were mainly families with young children, tourists eager to see some Australian animals and nature photographers. Her days were filled with playing with animals, helping prepare food for animals and putting it out, answering questions and even sometimes working at the ticket office and shop. By nightfall she was often too tired to even bother to go online and when she did she found it didn’t capture her interest quite as much as it had before.
In her second week the park had to tend to a poor koala who had been hit by a car while crossing the road. They named her Kim and she even had to sleep in the house as she needed around the clock care, with medication every hour and the dressing on her injuries changed regularly. Peter and Lynne told them that though Kim looked bad now, within a month or so she’d be fine and another asset to the park.
Kate and Lisa were closer than ever and she enjoyed Ben’s company too, he made the girls laugh and had a great sense of humour. On their rare days off they went to the beach nearby or watched DVDs with Kim in the room so they could look after her if needed. But for the most part their time was spent at the animal park. Each member of the team loved the place and worked hard to make it the best it could be.
On the Thursday, Mr Jameson and Michael were off-site, sourcing some new food sources for the spider monkeys and chimpanzees. Lynne was back at the house with Kim. Rachel was manning the ticket office and gift shop. Sam was with the wombats, Sara with the echidnas, Ben with the kangaroos and Lisa was taking care of the spider monkeys and chimpanzees.
Kate was spreading her time between the reptile house and koala kingdom. The day had been a bit quieter than normal, possibly because of a fair opening for one week only in the neighbouring suburbs. Kate picked the bearded dragon off a little boys head. The boy’s mother had just taken a photo of them together and both were very happy!
“Thanks so much,” the mother said to Kate, “and can I say, this is one of the best small animal parks I’ve seen. It’s great to be able to be so hands-on with the animals here.”
“Thank you!” Kate said with a smile, “I’ll be sure to pass that one!” The mother and son walked out of the reptile house across to Wombat World. As it was quiet Kate slipped behind the wall where food supplies were kept out of the view of the public, to get some fresh cockroaches for the lizards and bearded dragons to have. She had to look for the tweezers to pick them up with and was crouching down checking the lower shelves when she heard some more people coming in. She was about to pop her head out and say hi when she heard them speak.
“Barely any staff, minimal security, easy access to all the animals. This is going to be a piece of cake.” Kate froze immediately.
“Yeah and we’ll get heaps for some of these Australian animals on the black market back home.”
“This one here will look great as a belt, or maybe a handbag, what do you think?” The two men laughed derisively. Kate was frozen to the spot – how could they talk about doing that to these beautiful animals?
“So what do you think? Come back tomorrow night? Park closes at 4.30 and my sources say staff leave around 6 and go back to the house on the property. There’s just the one security camera but that can be put out of action without too much trouble.”
“Shh someones coming!” one of the men said to the other.
“Look mummy at that snake... feel how smooth it is.” She heard a little girl say. Kate heard the sound of cameras clicking. Then she heard footsteps leaving the reptile house and breathed a sigh or relief. She had to go and tell one of the others about this right away!! She was about to step out from the wall when she heard the voice again.
“So yeah, tomorrows the night, we’ll come back with the van and bags for the animals and take as much as we can get. Boat will leave the next day.”
“What if we’re caught?”
“There’s just the one family that will be here and I can make sure the main threats are out of the way.”
“Ok good, that would make me feel a lot better.”
“These people are obviously very trusting – plus they don’t suspect a thing, it’ll be fine, don’t worry so much.”
“Now let’s go tell the boss. I reckon he’ll be right pleased.”
Once again Kate heard footsteps leaving the reptile house but she stayed rooted to the spot for several minutes. When she dared to take a look around the wall she was relieved to find the room empty apart from its regular inhabitants. Her heart was beating so fast, she had to tell someone!! She went through the side exit of the reptile house, hoping not to see the two men who she now realised she didn’t even have a clue as to what they looked like. She hadn’t dared to have a look at them, afraid of what might happen if they discovered they were being overheard. She went through the echidnas and had a look down the main park walkway. She could see the mother and son who had thanked her earlier, what must have been the girl and mother who had been in to see the snakes while the two men were in there, a group of four Japanese young people, two men with cameras around their necks, at that moment one was taking a photo of one of the chimpanzees as Kate watched. Could it be them?? Then she saw some more men. She had to find Lisa. She saw her sitting in a tree with a chimpanzee.
“Hey sis, whatcha doing here? I thought you had the reptiles and koalas under control. You need some help??” Lisa called down to her.
Kate shook her head but words wouldn’t come.
“Whats the matter?” Lisa swung down out of the tree, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”
Kate didn’t know where to begin. She made sure no park guests were anywhere near them before saying a thing.
“Lisa I was in the reptile house getting food behind the wall when these two men came in. They... they’re planning to come here tomorrow night and take some of the animals and take them overseas for trade. They were going on about lack of staff and security and they think it will be easy. They’ve been watching all of us and they know where the house is and when we go there etc.”
Lisa looked very serious, “Are you absolutely sure Kate?”
Kate nodded, her eyes wide.
“Can you show me which people it was?”
“No. I didn’t see what they looked like, I only heard their voices.”
“Hmm ok... we can’t exactly go creeping around the park listening to the voices of all the men who are here today.”
“We have to do something!!!” Kate said urgently.
“We will, we’ll tell Ben and the others and think about what to do. But for now I think we should just act normally, as if nothing has happened. They could still be here and we don’t want them to notice anything different, especially if, as you say, they have been watching us for awhile.”
Kate still felt panicky but she could see the logic in what Lisa was saying.
“Okay I’ll go back to the koalas. Should I mention anything to anyone else?”
“No not yet we should let the Jameson’s know first. Now go!”
Kate went back and entered the Koala habitat; she didn’t fancy going back into the reptile house so soon after her experience. Her mind was racing. The rest of the day seemed to drag and it was with impatience that she waited for 4.30 and the park to close. The last guests went out the front gates and Kate went immediately over to Lisa and Ben. Sam and Sara joined them.
“Ben, we’ve got something to tell you.” Lisa said. She recounted Kate’s story, with Kate adding bits here and there as she remembered. Sam looked sceptical. Sara looked worried.
“Hmm so these scumbags were potentially here all day and we don’t have a clue what they look like?” Ben ran his fingers through his hair. “Hmm Rachel was in the ticket office today, she might be able to tell us more about who was here today.” The five of them walked to the ticket office, where Rachel was counting the money.
“Hey Rach,” said Ben, “Kate here overheard two men plotting to come here and steal a number of our animals that could be going to happen tomorrow night. Trouble is she didn’t get to see what they looked like.”
“So our lead is basically useless,” said Sam.
Ben gave him a pointed look, “So I need you to think back over who was here today and tell me as much as you can about them, any men on their own? Credit card slips etc??”
“Hmm.” Rachel was thoughtful, “I don’t really remember. I think there were about three lots of men in today, two of them were nature photographers so I’m not sure if you want to rule them out? And another lot have been here a few times before. I think they all paid cash though so no names or signatures sorry. It was mainly kids and parents today. Nothing really stood out to me as odd or anything, sorry.” She handed over the days takings to Ben to take inside to Lynne and then she had to go home. The others locked up the park and went into the house.
Lynne was sleeping on the couch with Kim on her lap. Kate coughed to wake her up and the two girls again recounted all that Kate had heard earlier that day. Lynne listened thoughtfully but didn’t seem overly concerned. “I wouldn’t worry too much we do have a security camera after all and I’d like to see someone put a fully grown emu into a bag. Or try to pick up an echidna without the right sort of training. We’ll contact the police but I don’t think they’ll be too interested, I’m afraid.”
Kate looked at her incredulously. “But they said they can get the security camera out of action!”
“I think someone probably just has an over-active imagination and wants a bit more excitement around here. Me, I’ve had enough for the day, I’m going home.” Said Sam.
“Yeah don’t get so worked up about it Kate,” said Sara, “Nothing bad has ever happened, it will be fine.” Sam and Sara left and Lynne got started on dinner, while Ben and the girls took over caring for Kim.
Kate felt angry, “Why is no one else as worried? Why doesn’t Sam believe me, even your mum’s not taking it seriously!” she burst out to Ben.
“Well I guess to them it’s not as serious, there’s no proof, you don’t have any evidence, and you’re just a 15 year old girl.” Kate’s felt indignant, “You don’t need to get angry at me though, I believe you and we’re going to do all we can to stop this from happening, ok?” Ben said looking into her eyes. Kate felt suddenly calmer.
“Alright we need a plan!”
The trio continued to plan that night after dinner. Peter and Chris had come home and they had told them, Peter had rung the police, who, as Lynne had predicted were not overly interested given the lack of evidence and its source but they said they’d send an officer over the next night if they were not too busy and could spare one. Peter was okay about it, confident that the security measures he had in place would be enough. “I’ll keep watch tomorrow night too kids. Look I’m just as concerned about our animals as you but I’m sure everything will be fine. Relax, want to play Monopoly or something tonight?”
“Nah I think we’ll just watch DVDs in the bedroom.” Lisa said, “Thanks for dinner Lynne, it was lovely.” The three of them retreated into Ben’s room, not to watch DVDs at all but to get some serious planning done. Ben drew a quick sketch of the park showing all the enclosures, the security cameras, entrances, low fencing etc.
“We don’t know where they will try to come in, but we’ve got to man the front gates though I don’t think they’d be dumb enough to come in the main doors, but you never know. We should also be stationed near the Kangaroo Korner as the fences there are relatively low, same with the wombats.”
“Why don’t we be there instead of the entry as its so close to the entry anyway?” Lisa asked.
“Good point. They couldn’t get in from the Chimpanzee Jungle or spider monkeys as theres no entry, just the big back of the cage. Emu run is a bit open as well but I don’t see them voluntarily jumping into an enclosure with birds as big as them, especially if they are not familiar with Australian wildlife.” Kate and Lisa agreed, “And the reptile house has no outside entry. So that leaves the echidnas, because the koala’s area has that big fence and all those tall trees behind it.”
“Ok so we need to be at or watching the Kangaroos, Wombats and echidnas tomorrow night.” Lisa said.
“Yes and there’s three of us so that works out well.” Ben said.
“Not so fast, I’m not sure I want to be alone at night in the park when we’re actually expecting potentially dangerous criminals to be coming in. I don’t think we should split up.” Kate said, appealing to her sister.
“OK, Kate and I will stick together and watch the kangaroos and wombats as they are right next to each other anyway and you can watch at the wombats.” Lisa said. Kate breathed a sigh of relief.
“What should we bring? Weapons of any sort? I’m not sure I could attack anyone...” Kate said nervously.
“Definitely a video camera or camera so we can get evidence, especially if the security camera is put out of action, mobile phones to contact the police if we need to, possibly a snake or two.... we know which ones are harmless but they probably don’t and we can use that to our advantage.” Ben was thinking hard. “We should probably be out there from 6 but then again if they are watching the house we want them to see us going to the house. Maybe we can sneak back out individually, that wouldn’t be as obvious.”
They spent the rest of the night talking and planning and Kate woke the next morning to find herself still in Ben’s room, the three of them still in their work clothes with hand drawn maps and notebooks scattered all around them. Kate felt nervous and worried, what if something bad happened? Or what if nothing happened at all and then she would be made to feel foolish for making them go to all this trouble for nothing. Kate and Lisa went back to their own room and got changed into a fresh set of clothes, brushed their hair and went down for a quick bowl of WeetBix for breakfast. Ben joined them before long, with Chris, Lynne and Peter.
“You guys had a late one last night” Lynne said, “I went past after 12 and you were still all in there, must have been a good movie! I hope you’re all bright and bushy tailed for another big day at the park today”. They all nodded.
“So Dad,” said Ben casually, “Are you still gonna watch the park tonight in case..., cos we’d all like to help.”
“Yeah I will, and that’s fine, but it will be another late night for you lot, you don’t have to help.” Peter said.
“We’ll see how we feel.” Lisa said stretching. They washed their bowls and cups, put hats on and went out to start the day. It was an ordinary day, they started off cleaning out the enclosures and replacing the food and water and saying ‘Good morning’ to all the animals, then the others started arriving at work, Peter, Lynne, Michael, Sam and Sara. Rachel was not rostered on that day and Chris was on his off day which meant staying home with Kim the koala. Lynne was on tickets again. Kate purposely requested not to be in the reptile house again, she was still freaked out by yesterday to want to be in there alone again today. Michael took the job after hearing about her experience yesterday. He was a kind man, in his mid 30s, he had worked at Perth Zoo previously but wanted a more personal environment and had come to Jameson’s when he had heard about it. “I’ll even stay late tonight and help you watch the park in case” he told them. Kate felt better already, it would be the 5 of them, as well as possibly a policeman, and she felt better about that than the plan for just the three of them. Kate took the wombats today, Lisa the kangaroos, Ben the monkeys and chimpanzees, Peter the emus, Sara the echidnas and Sam the koalas. The day passed just like any other, apart from the fact that they all were now taking much more notice of every person who came into the zoo, trying to remember as much details as they could about each and every man who came in, as well as running through the plans for the night ahead in their minds. Lisa saw a group of two men walking past the Kangaroo Korner and took a mental note. Light brown hair, one with a beard and one without, could be brothers, about 5”10, brown pants and a blue shirt. Later she saw an Asian man and his wife over by the koalas, black hair, red shirt, jeans. A man alone entering the zoo, in black leather jacket and black jeans, brown spiky hair. This could drive her crazy, thinking everyone was a suspect.
Kate at the wombats saw one man who looked familiar, she was sure she had seen him before, just yesterday in fact, at the park. Could he be one of the men, or was he simply the regular Rachel had mentioned that comes in often to take photos? She wasn’t working that day and so Kate couldn’t ask her. It was frustrating. The day went annoyingly slowly but nothing out of the ordinary happened and she started to slightly relax and enjoy spending time with Burrow and Maxi and the other wombats.
Just before closing, Peter came through and said to Kate, “Listen sorry Kate but I’m not going to be able to hang around here tonight, I’ve got to head off now. I just got an urgent phone call from a mate up the coast, a whale up there has beached itself and Lynne and I need to go right away to help out to try to save it. You guys will have to make your own dinner, don’t worry I’ve called the police again today and they are definitely sending an officer down this evening, it’ll be fine!” he said with a wink, “Now I better go, catch up with you all tomorrow hopefully.” He said dashing off.
“That was sudden,” Lisa said coming over to the side of the fence, “but you can understand he needs to be there to save a whale, they are such amazing animals.”
“Yeah..” said Kate but she couldn’t help but feel uneasy. What if this was just a hoax phone call from the men, designed to get him and Lynne out of the way? But then again, Peter had said it was a friend of his that had called... 4.30 came and went and they began their typical closing up routines, locking the monkey and chimpanzee cages and the top of the snake pit, restocking food to get them through the night and counting the days takings. Sara had taken over from Lynne in the gift shop/ticket office when she and Peter had to suddenly leave to attend to the whale. Sam left as soon as he could, still acting as if Kate had made the whole thing up.
“Do you need me to stay and help keep watch tonight?” Sara asked, “You do still have a policeman coming, Peter said?”
“It should be fine.” Ben said.
“Oh good.” Sara said, her face brightening, ‘I actually had plans for tonight but would cancel if you needed me, feel free to call me if you do need help or anything ok guys?” Michael said he would stay and he came back up to the house with Ben, Lisa and Kate. Chris was inside with Kim, slightly grumpy from being stuck inside all by himself all day. They let him know of the plans for the night and made themselves a quick stir-fry dinner of noodles, vegetables, honey and soy sauce.